LEGO Toy Organization

I am a HUGE organizer. Can you say organizer addict?!? I organize EVERYTHING, from my kitchen pantry....as seen here. To my closets, cupboards, DVDs....as seen here. The list goes on. I like things to be organized and in order. This keeps me sane, and with a busy schedule like mine, I need all the help I can get. :)

Toy organization is something I pride myself in. My kids do a pretty good job at keeping their stuff organized, as I have had a system for them since basically birth for most of their toys. There is a spot for everything, so they know where to put it (the preschool or kindergarten theory...everything has a home).

But LEGO's have been a thorn in my side. My boys are LEGO crazed & LOVE them. And up until now, I have not really organized them, but basically kept them all together in a few bins. The problem with this system is they are constantly digging through the bins & can NEVER find the pieces they are looking for. This also makes putting together the "sets" they have a real challenge. I don't mind helping them put sets together, but when it takes FOREVER to find all the pieces to a set, that is something I don't LOVE. Now that they have a substantial collection of LEGO's. I thought now would be the time to get a system down. Especially with Christmas lurking & them having several LEGO sets on their lists!

I did some research and found lots of ideas for LEGO organization & storage. Luckily, I am not the only Mom with this problem.

Here is some of the resources I found helpful!

1. Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories shows us how to stack Lego's for storage. Check it out here.

2. Another Mom with the growing LEGO dilemma. Check it out here.

3. Here is another cool LEGO storage table you can DIY. Check it out here.

4. Here are a BUNCH of different options to store your LEGO collections. Check it out here.

5. This is REALLY cool. I would definitely invest in something like this, just for the sorting factor alone. It's called a BOX4BLOX...check it out here.

6. Here is yet another LEGO table you can DIY from Ikea Hacker. Check it out here.

7. My NEW FAVORITE SOLUTION: Ty from over at Brik Crate has a FABULOUS solution. A compact wall storage unit with fold down table. You have to check it out here. It could be painted & blend into any room. What a clever idea! They also have a ton of tips on organizing as well. Definately take time & go check them out!

So here is what our current situation looks like:

I decided to sort by color, and to some extent the type of brick/piece.

I started out by picking up this 7 drawer Sterlite bin at Walmart.

Then I started sorting bricks. This took some time, but I had help from the boys!

*This is another TIP...if you include your kids in sorting their toys & setting up the system, it makes them feel a sense of accomplishment. And they are more likely to follow through with upkeep of the system you put in place! Especially when they can find what they are looking for!

I just used some shoe storage boxes I had to sort the bricks out. I put like colors together & sorted into these categories: Black/White, Red/Orange/Yellow, Green/Blue, Brown/Tan, Gray/Dark Gray, Wheels, Mini Figs (people), and super small pieces & unique pieces. I have to say this was my least favorite part of this job. Only because it took so long!

Then I found some these cool FREE down loadable labels. This is to label each drawer so they know what's in them.

Labels are courtesy of Mrs. Jones. Check them out here.

I printed them out on white card stock and cut them out. I just taped them to the fronts of the drawers using clear packing tape.

Then I just dumped the shoe boxes in each drawer.

Manuals/instructions went in the top drawer.

The mini figs, super small pieces & unique parts went into a clear divided bead storage box (from Walmart in the jewelry section). I wanted to be able to separate these pieces since they are so little.

Here is the LEGO area of my son's room. The table was a UNBELIEVABLE find from the Winona Shares Free site (Basically a Craigslist type site, only everything on it is FREE). Check it out here if you are in the Winona, MN area (a great source for us thrifty types). A guy was just giving it away. He had made it for his 2 boys & they had grown out of it. He built this like 15 years ago, before activity/train type tables were even around...I would say he was ahead of his time! :) I called & snatched it up the moment I saw it listed (Thanks Mom for letting me know about it!) My boys just LOVE it. It is basically a coffee table, with a hole cut out of it (routed nicely). He mounted a basket under it for quick clean up. And mounted the base plates on the top as well. This table gets a lot of use at our house.

The 2 green stools are from IKEA. I picked them up on clearance last year.

So that sums up the LEGO organization corner of our house.

Do you have any cool ways you organize/store your LEGO's or other toys? I would LOVE to hear about them. I am always on the look out for new organizational ideas!

Enjoy!!!

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